Atlantis Summer Camp
by snowglow
Summary: AU where Atlantis is a camp and Rodney gets talked into becoming a councilor. McShep with other pairings. rating for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Not my toys!

"Ring! Ring!"

Rodney sighed, looking up from the piles of books and equations, and began rooting through the mess for his cell phone. He located the lit screen and pulled it out from under a pile of papers he had been helping to grade. He rolled his eyes at the caller ID telling him it was his sister.

"I'm working on my thesis this summer! End of discussion!"

"Hello Jeannie, how are you today? Fine, thanks, Mer, and you?" She parroted.

Sigh. "Jeannie, I'm really busy…" His voice practically begging for her to drop this topic they had been arguing over for the better part of a week already. He was slightly tempted, against his better judgment, and didn't know if he could hold out much longer. Something Jeannie probably knew and intended to use to her full advantage.

"I know, I know, dissertation, classes, grading, networking, blah, blah, blah! Which is exactly why you need a break. You've been pushing yourself for your whole life and this is the last summer you have available to do whatever you want to do before being pulled in every direction by that professional scientist's world you somehow want to belong to. You should have fun! You do remember what fun is, don't you?" She continued without letting him get in an answer. "Besides, do you know how much trouble I went through to get you this job offer?"

"Yes, yes, you've told me, repeatedly! But, seriously, how much trouble could it have been to get a job at a summer camp? It's not like asking for a grant or anything."

"Honestly, Mer, you can be so dense sometimes! It's a camp for gifted children, all the councilors have great credentials, and I really think you would fit in for once in your life!"

"Maybe I don't want to fit in, huh?" Rodney yelled, just to be ornery, and then felt very childish. "This is important, Jeannie, I'm doing important work here! And, you know, you could stand to do more with that brain of yours, too."

"Don't change the subject, Mer! You've got your whole life ahead of you to do 'important work'! Live a little!"

"You're not going to drop this, are you?" He sighed.

"No! You are going to come, and you are going to enjoy it!"

Rodney just huffed. Jeannie's voice softened, "You will, Mer, trust me for once, okay?"

Rodney sighed, he wouldn't tell her but she was right, he did want to relax, have a little fun, before committing his whole life to science. "Okay, alright, you win!"

Jeannie squealed in Rodney's ear. "Yes! Oh, god, Mer, you'll have so much fun! This is gonna be great! I'll e-mail you the details later! Oh, god! I love you, Mer, bye!"

"Love you, too."

Rodney closed the phone, looking over his crowded desk, and allowed himself a smile. He was reluctantly beginning to look forward to this adventure his sister had been spouting about.

~*~

Jeannie hung up and turned excitedly to her computer, opening her e-mail and typing rapidly.

Fr: 

To:, , , 

OMG!!!! He's coming! Love you all! See you soon!

She sent that and opened another.

Fr: 

To: 

Rodney's coming! I had to beg him every waking hour for the last 5 days! But I did it! I can't wait for you to meet him, he'll love you. Be patient with him- he takes some getting used to but I'm sure you'll love him, too! Can't wait! Love you!

P.S. you owe me big!

Jeannie was really quite proud of herself at having convinced Rodney to do something he had initially adamantly refused to do. She could be more stubborn than him sometimes.

~*~

Rodney cast an appraising eye over his room mentally going through his extensive check list. He had packed anything he thought he could possibly need from his homemade sunscreen to clothes for any and all natural and manmade occasion, even throwing in his own laptop. He'd done his research, he was a genius after all, and knew he would have access to a small collection of high-tech goodies but he wasn't about to trust some unknown country bumpkin's definition of high tech when he could easily bring his own. Everything he wasn't bringing was neatly packed into boxes and stacked into a corner of the closet. He had also been kind enough to meticulously clean the room and leave an extensive list of expectations for the occupant his roommate had found for while Rodney was away. He took a deep breath and fervently hoped he wouldn't regret this uncharacteristic decision. After a moment he turned, grabbed the last bag and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Rodney left the bag sitting in the entranceway of the little graduate housing apartment he shared before making his way into the kitchen one last time. He never really thought he could get along with someone other than family well enough to stand living with them but his roommate and he had so much in common he had found it surprisingly easy to settle into a comfortable familiarity and even a friendship of sorts.

Kevin was pouring over some books and munching on some chips. He had opted to take summer classes for the first time this year, strange that this was the only time Rodney wasn't taking classes.

"You off?" Kevin asked, closing a book and leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah." Rodney opened the refrigerator and grabbed the last of the food that was *his*. He piled a few bottled drinks and various snacks into a bag. The rest of the food that he had bought was being donated to Kevin.

"You already got the place rented, right?"

"Yeah."

"Just make sure they get my list. I don't want to come back to a disaster area."

"Don't worry. They're really clean, I did my homework, and I know you well enough by now."

"Yes, well, you should." Rodney sighed. This was a little strange. He'd never had someone he would come so close to calling a friend. He really didn't know the proper way to leave this.

Kevin stood up and gave Rodney a quick half-hug, "See you, McKay."

"Yeah, you too." Rodney grabbed his bag on they way out.

His little car was packed; he really hadn't wanted to risk leaving anything he might need behind. Rodney placed the food bag within easy reach and pulled the car onto the street. He had never really liked driving but plane tickets were always too expensive for him so long car rides were just something he had forced himself to get used to, only this time he wasn't heading north.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeannie was bouncing on her toes, hands fidgeting nervously and eyes squinting down the little dirt road in the direction of the nearest town. She knew that was where Rodney would come from. She held her breath every time she caught a glimpse of a blue car, hoping it was Rodney. When he finally did pull into the gravely parking lot in front of a large rustic looking building she waved her hands frantically for him to get out. He rolled his eyes but opened the door and stood, allowing himself to be hugged enthusiastically.

"Oh, my god, Jeannie, what have you dragged me into? I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere and you don't really expect me to get near that building, do you? It looks like it could collapse any minute. Do they even have running water there? I can't believe I let you talk me into this!"

"Oh, stop complaining, Mer! Now, come on, I'll help you get your stuff into your cabin then we can go meet the other counselors, okay?"

But she didn't give him the time to reply, just began opening the car doors and dragging out suitcases.

"Jesus, Mer, how much stuff did you bring?"

Rodney picked up the bags that Jeannie had left and began following her.

"Three months, Jeannie, I had to pack three months worth of supplies!"

"We do have time off, Mer, you can go into town to pick up stuff!"

"Well, I highly doubt that they have the ingredients or equipment I need to make my sunscreen in that one-horse town and I don't trust that generic body wash, I couldn't risk it. And I had no way of knowing if they have a pharmacy where I could fill my prescriptions! I got a really weird look from my usual pharmacist, who I really don't think likes me anyway, when I asked to get 10 epi-pens. Oh, that reminds me, do they know about my allergies? You said you took care of everything, you didn't forget, did you?"

"Wow, calm down, Mer! Ten epi-pens? My god, you can be so paranoid! You're not going to need them, relax! I told the cooks about your citrus allergy so anything you can't eat will be clearly marked and you're going to be spending most of your time inside the science building or your cabin so I really don't think you have to worry about bees, ok?"

They had passed through a wide open area speckled with buildings and nestled at the base of a small range of mountains and were heading toward a semi-circle of cabins. Jeannie led him up to one on an end, opened the door, and began plopping his stuff onto the only bed that wasn't a bunk bed. Rodney was quiet for a moment. Inside the little rustic looking cabin, Rodney was shocked to discover, was clean enough to meet even his own high standards and the beds looked sturdy and comfortable enough. There were five bunk beds placed around the walls with Rodney's in the corner next to the door.

Jeannie tapped his shoulder, "You ready to go?"

"Why are there so many beds?" Rodney's voice was cautious.

"What do you mean? What were you expecting? You're in charge of, like, half a dozen kids, where did you think they would be sleeping?"

"I dunno, not in the same room as me. I mean, isn't that a little awkward? And there are beds for 10 not 6 here."

"So? I'm not the one who decides how many beds are in a cabin, and, honestly, Mer, think about it. This is a _summer camp_ not a hotel."

Rodney was still a bit miffed but he did realize that perhaps he had been a tad ignorant in not even thinking about the sleeping arrangements at a camp.

Jeannie continued. "You'll get used to it; it's not really that bad. It's actually kinda fun, like a big sleepover!"

Rodney didn't point out that he had never been invited to a slumber party because he had skipped most of those grades where sleepovers were appropriate. "Alright, let's just go, shall we?"

As they left cabin number 6 Jeannie began pointing out buildings and other structures for him.

"That building next to the cabin, that's the bathrooms and showers, don't worry, Rodney, they are kept really clean. Back there, can you see behind the trees? That's the lake. And here are the fields, the kids get to do all kinds of fun stuff, the supplies are in that shed at the end."

They were past the open fields and nearing the big building again when Jeannie stopped, pointing to the other side of the path where there were some smaller buildings stretching out around the edges of the fields.

"The one at the far end is Outdoors Survival, then mine- Arts and Crafts, and your Science building, and this one here is the Medical Station. And the main building, here," she pointed to the big one in front of them, "is the Cafeteria and administrator's offices. Okay, so are you ready to meet the other counselors?"

Rodney gathered all this new information and tucked it securely away before nodding nervously to his sister and stuttering, "Uh, um, yes, yes, lets get this over with."

Jeannie gave him an amused half smile, "You're meeting new friends not going to the dentist, Mer! They'll like you." Then she turned and led the way through the double doors into the cafeteria while he fervently hoped she still remembered their agreement that she wouldn't call him 'Mer' in front of others.

~*~

She headed toward the people in the large cafeteria. They were talking animatedly but when they noticed her the other girls shrieked and they all burst out in exclamations of greetings.

Rodney hung back nervously as he watched his sister's warm reception. He felt a wave of nervous nausea ripple through him at the sight. They obviously liked Jeannie but what are the chances even one of them would genuinely be willing to spend time with him? He couldn't live off of Jeannie's friendship for the next three months. He really should have stayed where he was; at least he knew where he stood with his classmates at home. These people were a complete unknown. Rodney fought the urge to run and tried valiantly to not look like the mouse thrown into a snake's cage when he noticed Jeannie's attention return back to him. She motioned him forward.

"Okay, everybody, this is my brother, Rodney." She then turned to each person and began introducing them individually.

"Rodney, this is Sam Carter, she's the Head Counselor but during the rest of the year she's in the Air force Academy."

"Air Force, wow."

"Thanks, I'm studying Physics. Jeannie says you're getting your PhD in something like that?"

"Oh, she did? Yes, actually right now I'm finishing my PhD in Astrophysics and will be starting another in Engineering."

"Impressive."

"Yes."

Several years ago Rodney would have been smitten. She was pretty, blonde, athletic, and smart. She was everything he could have wanted, or rather; she was everything he thought he _should_ want. What he wouldn't give to feel normal in at least that one way. But, like his intelligence, attitude, and everything else about him, his sexuality refused to fit neatly into acceptable social norms. He had realized, belatedly considering his intellect, that he didn't really feel anything toward these seemingly perfect girls, he just liked the _idea_ of feeling something for them. He thought he had come to terms to with this side of himself years ago but Sam so perfectly fit everything he had once believed he wanted that Rodney found himself giving a half-hearted command to his mind, heart, hell, even his cock to pay attention to this girl. Sometimes he really hated how not-normal he was.

"Okay, thanks, Sam. Rodney, this is Teyla and Ronon. Teyla organizes the group activities. She also does most of the Sports. Ronon and John help when they're not out doing their Outdoors Survival stuff."

"Hello, Rodney." Teyla was beautiful, in an exotic way, and she gave him a serene smile that somehow only unnerved him.

The big guy standing next to her just grunted and nodded his greeting, his long dreadlocks swished slightly.

"You need two people to teach Outdoors Survival?"

The big guy, Ronon, sat down heavily at one of the cafeteria tables and grunted again, this time Rodney could discern words.

"Buddy System."

"Oh, yes, okay, I see…Jeannie?"

Rodney felt rather uncomfortable with these two. Teyla continued to watch him composedly but Ronon sat back managing to look simultaneously menacing and like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Okay, moving on, this is Carson Beckett. He used to be the Science Counselor but last year the nurse quit and they decided to offer the position to Carson rather than hire another."

Rodney just managed to catch his jaw from dropping. He almost rolled his eyes at himself. Why did it figure that his heart was a few people off from his brain? But he couldn't think about that now. This Carson person was going to be in charge of his medical needs.

"Huh, and what qualifies you to take over that position, eh?"

"Rodney! Stop that!"

"It's alright, luv." He said with a wink that made Jeannie blush and Rodney groan inwardly. Damn. Why did he have to have such an amazing accent?

He may have been slightly distracted but his sister's reaction didn't escape him. Okay, well that was really too bad, looks like a summer romance was out of the question because there was no way he was about to approach Ronon.

"My credentials, eh? Well now, I'm a certified EMT in my third year of med school. My undergrad degree was in genetics. I'm also the camp lifeguard."

Rodney paused. "Well, then there are some things you should probably know…"

"Rodney! Not now! You can go by the Med Station later to bother Carson all you want. Sorry, Carson."

"No problem, I'll see you later, shall I?"

"Oh, yes."

She watched Carson wander off to talk to Sam. Rodney snorted. Jeannie ignored him but seemed to snap out of it, her face going into an ill-disguised look of mischievousness.

"Now where is…" She muttered half to herself just as a set of doors on the other end of the hall opened.

Jeannie shrieked, grabbed Rodney's hand and began dragging him over toward the new guy. This time Rodney failed. He shut his mouth, glaring at anything but New Guy. Rodney felt like he had wandered into the land of the good looking. Why were there so many pretty people here? He knew he was being ridiculous but he kind of hated New Guy for raising the bar all that much higher. Rodney tried to figure out how it was possible for anyone to look that roguish and tough and still manage to be, well there was really only one word for it, pretty. It was just so wrong and perfect and Rodney wished he could somehow look half that cool and casual right now. He wiped his palms on his thighs and forced his eyes to meet New Guy's.

He had hugged Jeannie but had managed only a slightly intrigued face. Rodney decided what he was feeling had better be hatred because he was_ not _falling for an arrogant pretty boy he hadn't even been introduced to.

"Rodney, this is John Sheppard, he's in charge of Outdoors Survival." Jeannie practically squealed. She nudged him in the ribs, hard.

"Ow! What was…Ow!" She nudged him again.

"So, I'm just gonna go catch up, see you." And she shuffled off in the direction of the others.

"So…Rodney, right?"

"Um, yes."

"Cool." John must have been a little too bored with the proceedings because his eyes started to wander the room. Rodney wished he wasn't finding himself uncharacteristically speechless.

"So, you know, maybe we should, ah…" John gestured toward the others who were shooting them less-than-covert glances. Rodney was sure he must be missing something.

"Ah, yes, probably." And Rodney followed John awkwardly.

It must just be him that was too boring to hold John's attention because he seemed to get along great with everyone else. Rodney watched him smile and found himself wishing he were half as interesting a conversationalist as Carson, Teyla, or even Ronon seemed to be capable of being around John. Jeannie caught his eye and Rodney had the impression she was trying to ask him something but he really didn't know what. Suddenly he couldn't remember ever feeling more like the clueless outsider.

Rodney noticed rather slowly that the others had stopped talking and were taking seats facing him. He looked around bewildered and jumped when he discovered a woman standing behind and slightly to the side of him. He hadn't even heard the doors slam open and closed.

Rodney backed timidly into a seat next to Jeannie. He wasn't the type to play the quiet one but right now he didn't know how else to play this. He glanced expectantly between Jeannie and this new person. She was very slightly built, not curvy like Jeannie or even Sam and Teyla, but on the taller side and appeared to be several years older than the rest of them. She had curly brown hair and smiled at them in a friendly but authoritative way.

"Hello, everybody, welcome back. I see you've met our newest addition. Hi, Rodney, My name is Elizabeth. I'm in charge of the daily goings on around here. Now, has everyone found their cabins and settled in alright? Good."

She separated some papers from a stack and handed them to Sam, who began sorting them and passing them around.

"We've got a small group this year, many repeats, but they are all extremely exceptional and I have great hopes for this summer. These are chore, meal, and activity schedules for both yourselves and your kids. We'll be having sandwiches for dinner here in a couple of hours. Get reacquainted with the place, make sure you've updated everything with Carson, and I'll see you later!"

Rodney looked down at the papers in his hands noting the schedules, along with other announcements and safety reminders, and a list of names with the heading _Cabin 6: Rodney McKay_.

It suddenly became all too real that he was going to be looking after kids. These kids. He scanned the short list of *his* kids. Shit. He was a goner.

Jeannie was tugging on his arm. He glanced up to where the rest were talking again, Elizabeth having mysteriously disappeared the way she came, and were heading for the door. Carson turned around and called back, "Rodney, I'll be needing to see you at my station yet today, would you like to do that now?"

Rodney loved getting medical attention, especially when he didn't really need it. He smiled at Carson and glanced at Jeannie's reassuring grin before jumping up to follow Carson through the doors.

"Yes, great, coming!"

Carson was waiting for him and Jeannie just outside. Rodney was just in time to witness John's laugh at something Carson must have said.

John met his eye briefly but just long enough to give a disinterested tilt of his head in acknowledgment. Rodney knew he wasn't much to look at but he really hated being dismissed on those grounds alone, he did have other good qualities, after all. John then gave a slightly exaggerated bow and offered his arm to Jeannie.

Rodney was slightly surprised as she took this in stride, grinning at Carson and even giving both of them a small peck on the cheek before returning to John with her own curtsey and taking his arm. They glided away, tilting their heads together to speak.

Seeing John and Jeannie like that as they followed the same path as Teyla, Ronon, and Sam back to the cabins, it felt very intimate and Rodney glanced nervously at Carson. He wasn't great at reading people but even he could tell that he and Jeannie had something going on, though he figured it was still unofficial because Jeannie had never held back on talking about guys, and he was kind of worried what Carson might think of her and John's behavior. Apparently he worried for naught. Carson was hiding a laugh as he turned to Rodney and imitated John's earlier bow. Rodney just stared. He wasn't used to games or fooling around, he didn't know what to think when others would play act, and he certainly didn't know how he should respond. Was he the girl? He sure as hell wasn't going to curtsey and he was certain most guys wouldn't be happy if they had just been joking and he wrapped his hand around their arm. Before he could think what to do Carson saved him. He swept his hand out in front of him in a 'let's go this way' gesture, waiting for Rodney to start moving, than fell into step with him.

"Well, now. Rodney is it?" It didn't really sound like a question, "Jeannie talks about you all the time, but I bet you'd rather us not judge you on her word. So, what do you do?"

It was only a short walk to the Med Station but even in that distance Rodney found himself becoming comfortable with this man. When Carson sat him down and began asking him questions and filling in charts Rodney found himself wishing that Carson was his doctor at home, too. Well, that and how, if he and Jeannie hadn't promised long ago not to fight over the same guy, Carson would be in real trouble. As it was, though, Rodney was immensely glad to have found a friend here. And to have found one this easily and quickly was extremely odd, but also, really great.

Carson kept him there for half an hour but Rodney got so carried away talking to Carson, who didn't seem to mind, that Rodney hung around while Carson tidied up for nearly another half hour before they left together.

As they neared the cabins a thought occurred to Rodney, "So, where are all the kids, anyway? I mean, there are supposed to be some kids, right?"

Carson chuckled, "dinna worry, lad," Rodney had been a little put off the first time he had been referred to this way but he soon gathered that it was just Carson's way, like some people called others, "Hun," all the time, "they start arriving tomorrow morning, just after breakfast. They should all be here and settled in by mid-afternoon."

"Oh, so, ah, what do we do for now?"

Carson checked his watch, "Well, there'll be dinner in about an hour back at the cafeteria but otherwise we unpack and get caught up. The girls usually get us all involved in making fun nametags for the kid's beds and shelves, something to make them feel like they have some of their own space. Stuff like that. Just getting ready, really."

Sure enough, in the hour he had been away with Carson everyone else had apparently settled in and Jeannie was setting out paper, paint, glitter, and other brightly colored stuff on one of the picnic tables in the center of the semi-circle of cabins. Rodney wondered where she had gotten all that stuff before nearly smacking himself. She was, after all, the Arts and Crafts counselor and had probably just decided to raid some of her own supplies.

They sat down at the table still chatting but were interrupted shortly by everyone else joining them at the table. Sam and John, of all people, were in a mock fight for the best and brightest supplies. Rodney had tensed in their presence again but that didn't last for long as he found himself laughing along at John's antics, even Teyla looked like she was on the verge of letting that indulgent smirk break out into giggles.

Rodney was still grinning and had even joined in the conversation, everyone working their way down their list of names, when John broke through the conversation with a stream of profanities. They all gaped at him. Carson leaned forward with a worried expression.

"You alright, lad?"

"Kavanagh! They gave me Kavanagh!"

Rodney was, to say the least, confused. Sam, Ronon, even Jeannie and Carson winced in sympathy. Teyla looked worried and started to chew her lower lip.

"Shit, I swear, if he says one word I might just have to kill him this time."

Rodney cleared his throat.

"Um, sorry, what, I mean, who…" He managed to stutter out.

Jeannie leaned closer to him, "Well, he's been here on and off for a couple of years and, um…"

"He's a stubborn useless fucking know-it-all science geek with a monstrosity of a stick up his ass!" John cut in.

Rodney's mouth dropped open. That feeling? Hatred, definitely. He'd been called all those things. And worse, actually. The venom in John's voice was palpable and it made him sick with anger. Every hurtful comment that had made his days hell growing up, all those times he had run home from school because he didn't want to be seen in crying in public, they all came rushing back to him. He bristled at John. Stupid, ignorant, pretty boy jock. Just like all those bullies he'd never had the nerve to stand up to before.

Jeannie and Carson must have noticed the look on his face at the same time because they both raised their hands placating and opened their mouths to speak. But too late. Rodney stood up, glaring at John.

"So, let me get this straight, you don't like him because he's smart? Because he doesn't fit into you're neat little caveman world of sports and jocks? Huh, idiots who use their already limited brainpower just to throw a ball. Figures I'd be stuck in this god-forsaken place with a Neanderthal that can't even leave the smart people well enough alone!"

Rodney was really getting into his stride, waving his hands in John's stunned face, when Ronon rose from his seat. He growled, low and animalistic. Rodney stopped. He glanced around at the other shocked faces at the table. He was so mad and nobody else seemed to understand. Not like anyone ever did. He could feel and old and familiar lump at the back of his throat, he was hyperventilating. He didn't notice Jeannie and Carson exchanging glances, their wordless conversation.

Jeannie may have more experience with Rodney like this but Carson knew she could be a little over protective and Rodney clearly needed space and someone who wouldn't interrupt. Jeannie gave an almost imperceptible nod. Carson rose and placed his hand gently on Rodney's shoulder, slowly leading him back across the fields. Familiar territory. He let Rodney catch his breath. They were walking sedately, neither one talking, until they once again reached the cafeteria. Rodney heaved a sigh, dropping onto one of the steps. Carson waited for Rodney to initiate the conversation.

"Sorry." It was so quiet Carson could barely hear it.

"For what, lad?"

"I didn't mean to make a scene. I just…John…I dunno."

"Ah, well, John sometimes throws around words he doesn't really mean. You should'na take him too seriously."

"It's just, what he said, about that kid, it just made me remember the guys I had to go to school with."

"Yes, He does tend to come off like the ignorant jock. Rodney," Carson sat down and waited for Rodney to look at him, "He's really not. I don't know quite what to call him but ignorant jock really doesn't cut it." Carson gave a slight chuckle at this.

"But, who talks about a kid like that? I know I'm not one to talk about social etiquette but, well, that was just…" He didn't know how to say it. Carson was obviously John's friend, how do you tell someone their friend makes you sick?

"Ah, yes, well, Kavanagh has a way of doing that to people. John has never approached anyone in this camp in anger but he will speak his mind when he gets riled up and that kid knows just how to push every little button a person has. It may be hard to believe now but I really think you should withhold judgement on John until you get a chance to meet Kavanagh."

Rodney gave him a doubtful smirk, "He's just a kid, how bad can he really be?"

Carson just grimaced. Away from John and breathing normally, Rodney began feeling better, he even let out a small laugh at Carson's expression.

"Well, now, do you feel like going back to the group or would you rather walk for a while."

"Actually, I should probably see the science building sometime before tomorrow."

"Aye, sounds like a good idea."

So Rodney followed Carson off to check out his cool new toys in the Science Building.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Rodney was out of hearing range Jeannie turned to glare at John, who was watching Rodney's retreating form with his mouth hung open in shock.

"What did I do?" He asked defensively when Jeannie finally caught his eye.

Ronon leaned forward and swatted the back of John's head.

"Ow! What was that, huh?"

"Idiot," Ronon rolled his eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking, flyboy?" Wow, he must have really messed up because Sam actually sounded pissed and she usually avoided calling him that, she knew he didn't like it.

"I dunno! He asked! I answered!"

"That was extremely rude, John." Teyla had her arms crossed.

When did everyone turn on him? Everything was going fine then…well, he really didn't know right now.

"Would someone just answer the goddamn question, huh, what did I do?"

Sam sighed, "think, John." She sounded like she was explaining things to an extremely slow child, "We know some things about Rodney from Jeannie, we know he's super smart, socially awkward, and skipped, like, all of elementary and middle school. We've all been there, not that bad, but still. You, especially, should have known better, John."

Jeannie chipped in, "and I never really talked to Rodney about you guys so he doesn't know that about you. Just think what your little rant, about a kid no less, would sound to an outsider, especially Rodney."

John scrunched up his eyes a little bit, trying to think, then his eyes opened wide again and he let his head fall on the table with a loud thump. He really shouldn't have needed that spelled out for him. He groaned then hauled himself back up, looking ashamedly into the faces of his friends.

"Damn."

"MmHm." Jeannie hummed in agreement.

"Do you think, will Rodney, um…"

"He'll get over it. Just give him a chance to get to know you. You're an idiot but we love you." Everyone nodded at Jeannie's words. "Give him a chance to cool off then maybe apologize?"

"Yeah, I guess I can do that."

That seemed to clear things up alright. Jeannie started them all back on their project, taking Rodney's list of names before John asked to help. They agreed to split the list. Teyla was still being a little over-polite and stiff but John knew that she would relax after she felt he had paid his dues.

The piles of decorated name plates were stacked neatly by cabin when Sam announced they should probably start heading to the Cafeteria. John and Teyla gathered the piles to put them into the appropriate cabins before leaving and Sam and Ronon helped Jeannie pack away the last of the supplies.

~*~

Carson cleared his throat. Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing.

"Uh, Rodney?"

No answer. He had been watching Rodney flit around the instruments and computers for the last 45 minutes and, despite how much patience as he had, he really wanted to get to dinner.

"Rodney, we should probably be getting off." He tapped Rodney's shoulder but only got a distracted grunt in response.

"Ok, well, I'm going to get something to eat…"

"Food?"

Carson chuckled, "Yes, Rodney, it's time for dinner."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so? Let's go."

Carson didn't answer, just let Rodney lead the way enthusiastically back to the cafeteria. All unpleasantness from the earlier dispute seemed forgotten as he rambled on jumping topics from programs he wanted to try back in the science lab to what kind of sandwiches they might have for evening meal.

When they were sitting down with the others Rodney sat as far from John as possible but otherwise seemed not to notice him. Jeannie and Carson conferred quietly before rejoining the conversation in which, this time, Rodney was wholeheartedly participating.

John, however, was not. He hadn't said much of anything since he had realized his big mistake and he was now trying hard not to attract any unwanted attention from the man he had unwittingly hurt. He still didn't know what to do. Jeannie had been so exited to have them meet and now? He had made a huge mess of everything. In the past two summers that he and Jeannie had been working together they had become good friends but she had never talked too much about Rodney. Then last summer changed everything.

He hadn't really meant to tell them, but then he hadn't really been trying to hide it either, and he just let slip one night to all of them about the last disappointing relationship he had been in. John had said 'he' and, well, that got everyone's attention, and he'd had to explain, of course, and before he really understood the depth of what he'd just given away he'd outed himself. Not that he would admit that he really cared about how they felt about his sexuality, but he'd been unbelievably relieved when none of them had minded. He couldn't say they hadn't treated him differently, but it wasn't in a bad way. The girls didn't think of him as a womanizer anymore, and that was good, but the guys didn't shy away from him either so John had slowly begun to believe that this was one place he was actually accepted as himself.

Another thing that had happened was how much Rodney entered conversations. Jeannie started telling them more about him, well, specifically telling John more about him. She even got really exited about having them all meet him. She'd winked at John about that. Maybe that's when he had finally gotten it. She was trying to set him up with her brother! He'd just been getting used to the idea of being accepted but to know someone who was actually trying to pimp her brother out to him was just too strange. Most people didn't want their family anywhere near him; he'd learned that the hard way.

But despite his initial reluctance he found himself actually wanting to meet Rodney and even participating in conversations with Jeannie about him. John had been looking forward to meeting Rodney just as much as Jeannie had been looking forward to introducing them. And he blew it.

He'd been so nervous he was afraid to look at Rodney for too long when Jeannie had introduced them. He wanted to impress Rodney and act cool about it but all he'd accomplished was looking disinterested. Jeannie had made a point of telling him as much.

And of course he'd known that Rodney had a hard time at school, worse even than he had, and he knew he was a science geek. John liked science geeks. He hadn't even considered how what he'd said about Kavenagh could have been transferred to Rodney. Kavenagh and Rodney were nothing alike. He'd barely met Rodney, in person at least, but he knew that much. So did everyone else. He just wished Rodney knew.

John was picking at his food, not really eating, and for once nobody questioned him about how he was feeling. They could probably figure it out. He chanced a glance up at Rodney, watching how animated he was. His fingers danced as he spoke, his mouth half full of sandwich, and his eyes sparked an electrifying blue with the intensity of a good conversation. His gaze was roving the others faces as they contributed. Back and forth then down to his plate to get another bite of food then repeat. But he spotted John's eyes on him and their gazes met. John looked away, too ashamed and uncertain of what to do, and when he looked back up Rodney had turned back to the conversation.

He'd had enough. The room quieted as John heaved a heavy sigh and stood up. His head was bowed and he didn't meet anyone's eyes as he said his good nights and left them all there while he made his way back to his cabin and bed for an early night. He might even get some sleep.

~*~

Rodney was trying to loose himself in conversation, and doing a pretty good job he thought, but his mind and eyes kept being drawn back to the dejected-looking man at the end of the table. He was still upset, telling himself he had every right to be mad. But he was finding it increasingly difficult to not feel guilty about yelling at John. His eyes caught John's but that didn't last long as John guiltily looked away. Rodney watched as he made an escape, slumping dejectedly out the doors.

Jeannie leaned closer, placing her hand gently over his, "You two gonna be alright?"

Rodney only gave a small crooked half-smile and a one-shouldered shrug. She patted his hand again but left it at that. He was grateful the others didn't comment when he pulled out of conversation and fell silent. He fell into his own thoughts, letting the other's words wash over him but not really hearing and allowed himself to be dragged along when they all rose to leave.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a strong hand placed gently on his shoulder. He looked up to find they had arrived back at the cabins. Jeannie and Carson stood facing him.

"Will ye be alright, lad?"

Rodney nodded, giving them both an exasperated smile, "Yes, yes, you two, I think in can manage to make it to my cabin and go to sleep on my own."

"Alright, Rodney, we'll see you tomorrow for breakfast, ok?"

"Yes, breakfast, got it."

Jeannie gave him a hug, "Tomorrow will be a lot of fun."

"If you say so," he laughed, trying to lighten the mood again. He wasn't as fragile as they were treating him now.

"Good night, Jeannie, Carson."

"Aye, good night."

"Night, Rodney."

He didn't wait for them to leave before heading to the cabin. He hadn't had a chance to unpack or really settle in earlier but he really just wanted to sleep now so he pushed his bags off and flopped down.

His last thought before drifting off was that despite the whole 'John' thing he had made a friend, maybe more than one, and was at the beginning of what he was sure would be exciting. Rodney decided that it had been a pretty good day, in fact.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite spending the whole night tossing and turning John was up early, he could help it, he just didn't sleep in. There were no kids in the cabin yet but he still dressed in the dark before silently leaving, as though he didn't want to wake anyone. John looked around, enjoying the dawn breaking and the bird song starting to fill the air, while bouncing slightly on his toes. Then he took off at a fast jog following a familiar path toward the lake.

There was a trail through the mountainside all the way around the little lake. It was quiet and the dawn shone pink and green through the leaves while the mist rose from the lake and made the air smell of moisture. This was John's sanctuary, his favorite place at his favorite place, and his favorite time to be here. He let the tension and worry leave him as his muscles relaxed into the familiar pace.

Sweating but refreshed he trotted back to his cabin to grab his shower things when the door to cabin six opened. Rodney stepped out in flip flops, sweats and a T-shirt carrying a towel and a few bottles of what must be body wash and the like. John stilled. He hadn't been noticed yet and was silently debating with himself whether it would be best to try to run for it or face the inevitable like a man. His mind was made up for him when Rodney spotted him standing there only a cabin away.

He went for it, "Hey, Rodney." He walked closer, the cool morning breeze chilling his sweat-slicked skin.

"Um, good morning." Rodney's eyes were shifting, like he was worried he was being watched, or, more likely, didn't want to look right at John. He knew he needed to say something but he was never any good at apologies. John ducked his head nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Um, about yesterday, I didn't mean to, well, I, what I mean is…" He cleared his throat and looked directly into Rodney's eyes, "I'm sorry."

Rodney just looked at him for a moment before giving a barely noticeable nod. John really hoped that meant they would be alright.

"So, you, ah…" Rodney scanned John's body quickly, John hoped he didn't blush, "been running?" he finished somewhat lamely.

John gave an embarrassed side-tilt of his head, "yeah, it, ah, helps me wake up. It's really pretty down by the lake. You headed to the showers?"

Rodney looked back down to where he was holding his supplies, like he had forgotten he even had them, "Oh, yes, I was just heading there."

"Ok, well I guess I'll let you get on with that then," He paused, "and Rodney?"

Rodney had already started to turn but he tilted his head back around to see John, "Mm?"

"I'll, ah, see you later?" yeah it was lame, but he was just happy they were apparently back on speaking terms.

"Mmhm," and a backward wave of his hand were John's only answer.

As Rodney headed away toward the showers John bounced a bit on the tips of his toes then let a bright smile cover his face and hopped the few steps into his cabin. He had been planning on catching a shower right away but it might be best to give Rodney some space. He didn't want to push it, and he could wait 15 minutes.

~*~

Rodney was pleasantly surprised to find the showers were clean and comfortable and each stall was private enough that Rodney decided getting up at an ungodly hour to catch a private shower would be unnecessary in the future. The water was even hot.

By the time he had made it back to his cabin the sun was really coming up. He was starting to feel hungry but Carson had said the kids would start showing up after breakfast so he had better get unpacking what he should have yesterday before it really got to be too late. It didn't take him long, he was never big on unnecessary neatness, and the clock by his bed (a battery powered one that he had brought along, and good thing too because this place had no clocks) said that breakfast was still being served for another half an hour.

Rodney made the trek back to the cafeteria, finding that he didn't entirely despise mornings, as long as they managed to look like this, at least. He made his way along a very short buffet that looked like it usually held more food and piled high his tray.

There were more people this morning than there had been the night before. There was Elizabeth eating alone, going through a stack of papers by the looks of it. And on the other end of the cafeteria were two older guys deep in conversation. One's hair was starting to grey and the other wore glasses and had sandy hair that fell in front of his eyes. But the largest and loudest group was at the same table in the corner that they had had last night for dinner. Rodney headed over to the other counselors.

When they saw him coming they didn't shift to make room for him, instead they seemed to take up more space until there was only one spot left for him to sit. Rodney set his tray down then swung his leg over the bench and sat down next to John, who was the only one who hadn't looked up and greeted Rodney, although his ears had looked a little redder since the others had moved.

"Yes, yes, good morning." And that was it; Rodney was out of the conversation while he dug into his food.

He slowed eventually, though he was still munching as he joined in arguing over why he had to spend just as much time teaching the 'hyperactive pre-teen hooligans' as he did the older, and undoubtedly wiser, campers. He was still talking when he took a bite of a French toast stick and found that he had gathered no syrup when he dipped it. He glanced down with a frown. His syrup cup was empty, all used up. And, damn, the buffet was already being taken down. He was getting all geared up for a good bout of self-pity at his misfortune when he glanced down again. There was an extra syrup cup sitting right between his and John's tray. Huh, that hadn't been there before. He grabbed it like a baby being offered candy, and then continued on like he hadn't missed a beat. He did, however, miss everyone else's smirks and another blush from John.

~*~

Everyone had been given a task to help get the campers signed in and settled as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rodney was following Sam back to the cabins when the first cars pulled into the lot.

Elizabeth had the others helping parents and children fill out paperwork and make sure the goodbyes went alright. Rodney was immensely relieved he wasn't going to be dealing directly with the immediate separation anxiety. That was Jeannie's element, not his. Sam had volunteered them for cabin duty. It sounded a lot simpler than what the others were having to put up with right now so he wasn't about to complain. Sam led him to the picnic table where they had all been last night and gave him a copy of the master list with all the children's names and where they would be sleeping, among other things.

They had some time to wait before the first campers started to show up and Rodney soon found that as long as they stuck to topics like physics, academia, and camp he was reasonably comfortable carrying on a conversation with her.

One by one the campers began to filter into the cabins, most appeared unimpressed and much more knowledgeable about the area than he was so Rodney let them be. A small pack of younger kids moved closer and ran to their respective cabins, yelling and laughing excitedly. Sam got up to make sure they were in the correct cabins. They were followed shortly by John and Ronon, who were both piled high with sleeping and duffel bags. They dumped their piles of supplies onto the ground at the middle of the semi-circle of cabins, John yelling, "You can carry your own stuff the rest of the way, midgets!" The children giggled but ran back out to sort through their things.

John beamed at Rodney, slightly out of breath, "just makin a supply run, see you later."

"Yeah, thanks. Uh, you too."

And he was gone again, racing Ronon back down the path, dodging campers headed in the other direction. Rodney paused a moment to admire John's, uh, technique, then noticed a camper turning into his cabin.

He hadn't had any of his other campers show up yet and hadn't gotten a good look at this one, so, it wasn't like he had anything else to do, he stood up and followed the kid into his cabin.

Rodney stood in the doorway watching a small boy in glasses with longish scuffy hair that had to be older than he looked because Rodney knew his campers where the oldest boys. The little guy was tossing his bags onto the top bunk of the bed next to Rodney's. When he was done he sat down on the bottom bunk and smiled at Rodney like he had known Rodney was watching him.

Rodney cleared his throat, "Uh, hi, I'm Rodney," and sat down on his bed.

"You are Carson's replacement, yes?" He had a small but decisive voice and there was an accent there that Rodney couldn't quite place.

"Yeah but, ah, he's still here. Around, I mean. He's the Camp Nurse. Well, not nurse, you know, but the, ah, medical person, I suppose."

The kid chuckled. Rodney decided to end that subject.

"You?"

"I am Radek."

Rodney paused, then consulted his list, the kid's name and age were right there. Sixteen, wow, "Oh, yes, I see, um, Ze…" He broke off. This kid's name was hard to pronounce.

"Zelenka. Yes."

"Okay," He gave up on trying to repeat it back, deciding to change topics again, "top bunk?"

"Yes, is…roomier."

"Ah, so why are you on the bottom now?"

Radek ducked his head and Rodney could barely make out the heightened color on his cheeks or his response, "saving it."

Rodney pursed his lips, "saving it? A friend of yours?"

Radek looked up, "Yes, he is, ah…coming soon."

"Oh, well, I'll just leave you to your vigil then, I should probably get back to the, ah, helping."

Radek nodded and turned away. Rodney nodded to himself then stood up, sighing at the chaos he didn't want to help sort out.

John and Ronon made several more trips loaded with the supplies for the youngest kids and Rodney was kept well and truly busy helping Sam sort out and contain the younger campers. He was relieved to look up and find Jeannie and Teyla had accompanied John and Ronon this time. Surely this meant all the campers were here and accounted for. Jeannie and John waved to him but they were all heading toward their now full cabins. Rodney was finally able to break away from the younger crowd and return to see who else had appeared in his cabin.

The small boy from earlier, Radek, was now on his top bunk along with another boy. The bottom bunk was neatly covered with a sleeping bag and Rodney could see empty bags under the bed so this must be the friend he was saving the bunk for. This boy looked taller and older than Radek, though that didn't mean much. His hair was neat and short, and he sat straighter than Radek, who was propped lazily against the wall. They were talking quietly, Radek's hands fluttering to accentuate his words and the other boy just nodding along and adding a few words here or there, his hands rested in his lap.

Rodney continued his perusal of the cabin. Another boy, tall with very short cut hair and a manner that made Rodney think immediately of the military, had claimed the next top bunk, his bags lay across the bottom bunk as the amount of beds meant only two kids had to share one while the others got their own. Next was an average looking boy with thin glasses and bags that looked like they all came in a set. He had opted to take a bottom and was now laying out a matching sleeping bag. On the next bunk over was the tallest kid. He was lying across the top bunk, not asleep but humming tunelessly. Rodney thought it sounded like he was trying to meditate. This kid had really long wavy hair with a bandana tied around his forehead and was wearing ragged clothes. In the last bunk was another average looking kid but with curly hair, like the white version of an afro.

Rodney cleared his throat. The boys slowly quieted and took seats.

"So, ah, I guess I'm gonna be your councilor for the summer. My, ah, name is Rodney, ah, McKay. You probably know my sister, Jeannie, already. Haha, well, maybe we should all start by introducing ourselves. I will be getting a Phd in Astrophysics this year, I have a masters in engineering and am only a couple of years from a PhD in that, too, ah, this is my first year here and I'm in charge of the science stuff, so, ah, who's next?"

Rodney decided he could probably sit down too so he sank onto his bed and pulled out his list of kids for reference.

Military kid, true to his Rodney-made nickname, stood up, placed his hands behind his back, _at ease_ Rodney thought and smirked.

"Name's Steven Caldwell. First year here." Then sat back down. Rodney frowned. Well he hadn't said much about himself but Rodney wasn't about to push it and his name was on the list. The other boys were looking at Steven like he had just beamed down or something. Then they glanced amusingly at each other. Rodney cleared his throat then looked at the only person he knew so far to help him move this along. Radek mumbled something then spoke up.

"Radek Zelenka, I have just got, ah, undergraduate degree in engineering in Prague. My mother is, ah, diplomat here, wanted for me to do something … normal, for summers. This is my, ah, third year."

Rodney's eyebrows shot up. Okay, maybe his sister wasn't joking when she said the kids here were smart. The kid next to Radek spoke up.

"Hi, I'm Evan Lorne, just finished freshman year of college, getting a communications major. Thinking of enlisting when I'm old enough, help with the bills, you know, and, ah, it's my second year here."

Rodney glanced back at his sheet, fifteen, yeah, that's still a few years off, then. Hippie kid raised his hand, still lying flat on his bunk.

"Halling Wex, one more year of high school then on to an ecology degree. Second year."

The kid with the matching bags coughed politely.

"Hello, I'm Richard Woolsey, starting pre-law at Harvard this fall. This is my first year here."

All eyes turned to the last kid, he looked kinda shy but gave a small smile.

"Hi, um, Kaleb Miller, gonna be a senior in high school but then I wanna get my degree in English Lit, and this is my first year here."

Rodney did a quick glance through at his sheet, yep, all names accounted for. Now for more important things. He looked over at the clock.

"Well, that was, ah, interesting, but it looks like they should have lunch starting about now. Then the rest of the afternoon is for you all to get settled in, so, ah, I guess I'll see you all at dinner. I've just got 'anouncements' scheduled for after dinner at the cafeteria, so I guess we're all in for a surprise."

And with that Rodney turned, not bothering to see if he was being followed, and headed for the cafeteria. It had been a long morning.


	5. Chapter 5

As one of the first people to show for lunch Rodney took complete advantage of the now full buffet and piled his tray as high as he thought it would go. He took what he was already thinking of as his place at their table and tried to watch the trickle of entering kids as he ate. Two of the youngest campers were entertaining a growing group. The boy was dark and skinny with an electric smile and the girl next to him was shorter and rounder, fair skinned with blonde curls, but with no less a mischievous look as she cut across the boy's words. An older blonde girl verbally parried with them for a few minutes before taking her tray over to sit next to a quiet oriental girl who smiled at her in return. Military kid, Steven, stalked through the buffet line and sat alone at a corner table. Rodney turned his attention back to his food.

There was a delighted shriek and Rodney looked up to see two bunches of blonde curls collide. The girl from the large group of younger kids had practically pounced on Jeannie, though Jeannie herself looked overjoyed at it. Rodney watched with interest as Jeannie was accompanied through the line by a very talkative mini-her.

When Jeannie finally made it to their table, having lost the kid again, Rodney asked, "friend of yours?"

"Oh, yes, she's such a nice girl. So smart and energetic. Her name is Madison Miller, Maddie. She's nine. That boy with her is her best friend here, Aiden Ford. He's ten."

"Mmm. Know the others?

"Most of them. The others with Maddie and Aiden are Lindsay B., Allison, Chuck, Dave, and I don't recognize that one." Jeannie said as she pointed to each in turn.

"Then the girls over there are Laura, she's the blonde, and Miko. Oh, Jennifer just walked in." She waved back to the girl who had just entered, "and I don't know the boy sitting in the corner."

Glad to know something she didn't Rodney announced, "That's Steven, he's one of mine. Quiet, military brat, I think. Are all yours weird? 'Cause all mine are weird."

"Rodney! They are not weird! Let's see… you'll have Radek and Evan, of course. Is Halling that old? Who else?"

"Well, Military Kid over there. Some snooty lawyer wanna-be, Richard, I think. And this kid, Kaleb? Who wants to go into English Lit, of all things, though why anyone with a reasonably high IQ would seriously consider that a field of study is thoroughly beyond me. Which, you know, is seriously saying something."

Jeannie just rolled her eyes at him. He wished he'd had a better audience.

"Mmm. Would that be Kaleb Miller? Maddie said he'd probably be able to come this year. Kaleb is Maddie's older brother."

"Yes, well, fascinating sibling dynamics aside would you mind…" He waved his hands vaguely at the number of campers that just entered.

Jeannie knew him well enough to understand that he wanted to be good at this, even if he didn't want anyone to know that's what he wanted. She nodded and continued with her introduction of the people entering the cafeteria.

"Ok, fine. Those two boys there, that are just sitting down, are Joe Markham, and Mike Stackhouse, though they usually just go by their last names. The older girl that just walked in with the younger ones, that's Anne, Alicia, and Amelia." She ignored Rodney's snort.

"Hi, John. How're your campers?"

John sat his tray down with a sigh. "Those boys are gonna give me heart attack." He had, in fact, had to break up several shouting matches this morning but as Rodney had not yet met the cause of his problems it would not be a good idea to bring up that subject.

"Who else have you got?" Jeannie asked, carefully leaving room for him to not mention Kavanagh. He smiled gratefully.

"Well, Ford's already got plans to prank half the newbies, and I may have, inadvertently, agreed not to stop him."

Jeannie huffed and rolled her eyes, "boys."

Rodney cut in, "that's Aiden? The one over there with Maddie?"

John grinned at them, "you met Maddie already? Yeah, they're practically inseparable, and half the high jinks around here you can blame on them. Though we've learned not to trust Radek's innocent face."

Rodney sputtered, "Radek? Seriously?"

John laughed, "Yep, don't let him fool you. He's the one who pulls Lorne along for the ride, not the other way around."

"Lorne? That's Evan, right? They seem nice, and quiet. They don't seem like they should be friends, really, from what I've seen."

John leaned forward, "yeah, they are just too cute, aren't they."

Jeannie punched his arm, "we don't know anything for sure so just can it. It's not nice to gossip about that kind of stuff."

"Riiiight," John snorted at her but straightened up, "back to my kids, eh? Ford's henchmen are back, Dave and Chuck."

Rodney pointed back to the young group, "Jeannie pointed them out with Aiden and Maddie's group. What do you mean, henchmen?"

"They tend to be on the periphery of anything you catch Ford doing but he never really includes them. Maddie's his partner-in-crime. Then there's the new kids, Dean Bates' kinda tightly wound, and, oh, guess what? Halling's little brother's here this year. Name's Jinto."

"Really? That's so cute. What's he like?"

"Don't really know yet but practically worships his brother. How 'bout you? Anyone new?"

"No, actually, nobody new. Just Maddie, Alison, Lindsey N., and Kate."

"Oh, god. Kate's back? She still doing her, you know, thing?" John waved his hand vaguely.

"MmHm. She actually says she's thinking about writing a book on us here."

"That girl takes her hobbies too seriously."

Rodney cut in, "What hobby."

"Thinks she's a shrink."

"Well, it's understandable. Both her parents are. She's actually pretty good at it, takes notes and everything."

"That's just great, of all the lesser so-called sciences psychiatry has to be the most useless. At least you can see or feel what biologists or, god forbid, botanists," Rodney gave a shudder, "are studying."

"Exactly!" John pointed at Jeannie like he'd just won something, "they give me the creeps!"

"Good afternoon Jeannie. John. Rodney." Teyla gave them each a nod of her head then sat down next to Jeannie, "how have your days been thus far?"

"Peachy."

"Exhausting. I hope every day isn't like this. I'll never be able to eat enough to keep my hypoglycemia in check if I have to do that much running all the time."

"Stop complaing, Rodney. I just love seeing them all come back, don't you?"

"Yes, it is always nice to see old friends."

Ronon grunted as he sat down with a tray piled even higher than Rodney had dared, though he doubted the added weight was the reason for the grunt.

"Good afternoon to you, too, Ronon."

Rodney bravely took the tread of the conversation, "so, what kids do you have?"

Teyla smiled at him, nodding as if agreeing to the change in direction, "I have three repeat campers, Alicia Vega, Amelia Banks, and Lindsey Biro, as well as a new girl called Katie Brown. I believe she is quite interested in plants."

"Oh, well that's terrific. Just a step up from psychiatry, then."

John snorted into his drink.

"I do not understand."

"Never mind them, Rodney was just whining. You shouldn't encourage him, John. How about you, Ronon?"

Ronon swallowed, "Peter, Torren, Stackhouse, and Markham. New guys are Dillon Everett and Abraham Ellis."

It was more than Rodney had heard out of Ronon's mouth since he'd met him. Combined.

Sam signed as she plopped down on the bench next to John, Carson following her but sitting next to Rodney, "so, the kids are wreaking havoc again and we just finished the paperwork, looks like things are heading toward normal."

Rodney tuned out the conversation happening next to him and turned to Carson, "paperwork?"

"Aye, you're not the only one with allergies and a medical history. I spent all morning taking orders off parents, cataloguing prescriptions, and updating old camper's files. Then Sam brought round the forms for the new campers, too."

"Oh, so, busy morning."

Carson snorted, "Aye, you could say that, laddie."

The cafeteria was still not near capacity but given approximate numbers Rodney assumed it was nearly as full as it was going to get. He dug into his food again while moving his attention to John and Jeannie's continued conversation about their campers.

~*~

The next hours passed in a blur as Rodney found himself being hauled around by fellow counselors and campers alike in attempts to replace forgotten necessities, field questions he didn't have any chance of knowing the answers to and in general listening to children giggle and whine in scarily equal amounts. Eventually he gave up on even trying to be the good counselor he didn't doubt the others were being and headed back to his science building.

Rodney closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh. When he heard movement he jumped about a foot into the air and spun around looking for the source.

"Sorry. Sorry. Didn't mean to, ah, startle you. I just... you were busy, and Carson always trusted me. But I did not mean to assume."

Rodney cast an appraising eye over Radek, who had on a lab coat and was standing by a large array of electronics that Rodney had only managed to cast a glance over yesterday.

"No, no, it's ok. I mean, you're probably more familiar with this stuff than I am at the moment. Uh, do you mind… well, what are you doing?"

Radek looked relieved and motioned Rodney over.

~*~

It took several hours of going through all the equipment and software, not to mention Radek's helpful explanations, but Rodney felt he was caught up on all the projects currently underway. He was impressed, though he wasn't about to admit it, at the level of technology and the quality of study taking place.

There were major projects dealing with most of the world's major environmental problems, like the one on desalinization and another combating ozone depletion, along with an attached greenhouse. Medical problems that he assumed Carson was responsible for interesting them in which included gene therapy and vaccination procedures. But the ones he was most interested in were the theoretical projects. He was very much looking forward to spending time with their programs investigating exotic particles as he planed to introduce to that some wormhole dynamics, and Radek's alternative energy sources were actually looking promising.

Most of the equipment and projects were not entirely cutting edge or new but considering the oldest people these were meant for were sixteen Rodney was more than satisfied; in fact he was sure he never had access to this kind of stuff until grad school. They weren't likely to discover anything or make any huge changes to the field of science to date, and Rodney did still have important stuff waiting for him back at school, but if this was what they did at camp he was actually kind of humbled to be able to be a part of their learning experience. Well, Radek's at least. He would withhold judgement on the others until he actually met them.

They were joined by several other campers as the day wore on. The quiet oriental girl, Miko, gave a shy but warm welcome to Radek while Rodney introduced himself then huddled herself into a corner going over what looked like some designs for a mechanical component of an alternative energy machine they were working on.

Halling made a fly-by visit to introduce his brother and show him the area, though they spent most of the few minutes they were there in the greenhouse.

A young boy with long hair in a ponytail haughtily introduced himself as Peter then made his way over to one of the desalinization model machines that were being built. Rodney was a little surprised at the look of contempt that flashed across Radek's face but they swiftly lost themselves to the work again.

A pre-teen girl with red hair wandered through about mid afternoon and nervously introduced herself as Katie Brown, god, Rodney thought, the botanist wanna-be, and asked if she could look around the greenhouse. Rodney, of course, told her she could do whatever the hell she wanted out there just so long as it didn't interrupt him in here.

Rodney looked up at the sound of the door opening again, breaking off from an friendly argument with Radek, who could hold his own surprisingly well, to see Carson leading in a girl in her mid-teens with dark blond hair. He excused himself from Radek and joined Carson.

"Hullo, Rodney. Jenny here came by to say hi to me and said she was on her way over here so I tagged along, hope you don't mind."

"No, no, of course not, Carson."

The girl offered her hand, "Hi. I'm Jennifer Keller. I was working on some of the vaccinations last summer and was hoping to keep it up."

Rodney shot a disproving eye at Carson over the girl's head while he shook her hand.

"I knew you had something to do with all those medical voodoo projects over there."

"I wouldna say stuff like that Rodney or I might have to curse you."

"Oh, yes, haha. Very funny, Carson. Yes, Yes, do whatever you want just don't do anything dangerous. I will not have potentially lethal pathogens loose in the lab!"

Jennifer giggled but left them.

"You do know that it's only the procedure she's gonna be working on, not any actual vaccines, right, Rodney?"

"Whatever. Now, if you don't mind, I was working on some very important _real_ science and…"

Rodney was cut off by a blast. There were sparks shooting out of one of the desalinization models, smoke filling the room, and most of the kids were hiding behind desks. Radek gave Rodney a shout and pointed to the breaker box beside the door then turned around to reach for something under a counter. Rodney and Carson quickly turned off the power to the whole building then moved smartly out of the way as Radek ran up with the fire extinguisher and proceeded to dowse the still smoking machine.

Rodney sighed in both relief and frustration. Carson was making his way around the edges of the building opening the windows and the door. Radek climbed on a stool and reached up to unhook the fire alarm Rodney only now registered had been ringing in his ears.

Several of the kids within hearing range of the building had run up to check out the source of the alarm but Rodney was too busy glaring at the campers within to notice those outside.

"Alright, I want to know what happened and I want to know _now_!"

Radek had a pinched look that Rodney hadn't yet seen but followed his eyeline to the boy that had been working on the machines.

Peter straightened, "I was attempting to increase efficiency by altering some of the power relays."

Radek mumbled to himself but Rodney turned to glare at him, "Do you have something to say?"

Radek steeled himself, "Yes, power distribution was never problem with that machine, he should not have been messing with it at all."

"Maybe it was up to _your_ standards, but in the US we have higher expectations," He sneered at Radek.

Being Canadian himself Rodney blinked, "Excuse me? Did you just try deflect attention from your own miserable abilities by demonstrating your xenophobia? I will not have that particular brand of one-upsmanship in _my_ lab! Now, did you or did you not mess with perfectly acceptable wiring, not to mention turning it on without consulting myself," Rodney shot a calculating glance at Radek, "or Radek was, to say the least, moronic."

The kid just glared.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' now get out! Out! Out! Out! And don't come back today!"

He watched the kid huff out then shot a sideways glare at Carson while leaning down to try to figure out what exactly had been messed with inside the machine, "what was that all about?"

Carson sighed apologetically, "that was Kavanagh."

Rodney straightened, "_that_ was Kavanagh? Jesus, is he always that bad."

"No. You seem to have caught him on a good day."

"Damn. Do I owe John an apology now?" Rodney wined.

Carson grinned, "No, lad, but forgiveness would go a long ways."


	6. Chapter 6

It hadn't taken him and Radek too long to restore power but getting the computers up and back on the proper programs was time-delaying to say the least and Rodney had decided that if he was going to have to deal with kids in his lab he would need some rules. To that end he had left Radek in charge and made the small trek over to the Arts and Crafts building in hopes of finding Jeannie. He knocked on the half open door and stuck his head in.

"Hello? Jeannie?"

"Hi, Mer, what's up?"

"I, uh, had a run-in with Kavanagh."

She winced, "Ouch, I'm sorry. So what happened? Oh, he didn't say anything about, you know…" She waved a hand in what would have been a vague gesture if Rodney hadn't already seen it many times. It was her 'is it too rude to just say gay?' gesture.

"What? Gay. You can say it you know."

She shrugged apologetically.

"Wait a minute. Why would he say something like that? How would he even know?"

Jeannie sighed, "Well, I don't think he _really_ does. There was an incident and apparently John didn't want to say anything about it at lunch because he didn't know how you would react to Kavanaugh being brought up again but Aiden got into a bit of a fight this morning with him about it. Kavanagh had insinuated that you were John's newest 'boy toy' and Aiden was attempting to stand up for him, or something like that."

"Why couldn't John stand up for himself…wait, John's…" Rodney made the same vague gesture Jeannie had made only moments before.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Jesus Mer, you just don't do subtle at all do you? I've been practically pushing you too together since the moment you met. We all have."

Rodney gawked.

"And John doesn't stand up for himself. Anyone else and he'll go above and beyond but himself? I don't think he thinks he deserves it." She looked a little sad.

"Oh." He bit his lip and shuffled his feet awkwardly for a minute.

"So…Kavanagh?"

"Yes, yes, well he tampered with some wiring he shouldn't have, almost set the place on fire, and then insulted foreign mechanical standards so I kicked him out."

"Ah, and you would be here because…?"

"Oh, yes, that. Well I was hoping I could have some of that big butcher paper so I could make a list of rules for the lab."

They started rolling out a big swath of the wide paper, "So. Ah, John is… And you were, ah…"

"What? Gay. You can say it you know."

He just glared.

"Yes. And you too would be so good together, you just don't see it yet. He was really looking forward to meeting you."

"Oh."

"You know he's sorry, right? He didn't mean it the way it sounded."

Rodney sighed, "Yes, well, I'm beginning to get that impression. Carson thinks I should forgive and forget."

Jeannie smirked, "He's a smart guy, that Carson."

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, great guy. Perfect. Can we get back to my guy?"

"You're just jealous I got there first."

"Yes, yes, hot boyfriend, blah, blah, blah. Now, you were saying?"

Jeannie was rifling through drawers and pulling out markers and the like, "just give him a chance, ok?"

"Well, I'm gonna be stuck here for a while anyways so I might as well settle for the hot gay guy that just so happens to like me. It will be such a hardship, I'm sure."

She giggled but gave him a pointed look.

He chewed his lip but answered honestly, "yes, ok, I will let him back into my good graces and promise to think about the rest. Happy?"

"You have no idea," Jeannie deadpanned.

"Good. 'Cause I need to get back to the lab and make sure none of the little rugrats have blown the place up again."

~*~

John. John is gay. John likes him. Well, Jeannie implied that John likes him, or would at least be open to the possibility. Was it really possible? That John could like him. Nobody liked him. Not really. Rodney thought hard about that bit, though, because as of yesterday he thinks he might not be totally correct on that one.

Assuming John did like him, does he like John? The answer to that had probably changed since yesterday, too. So if he gives John a blank slate then he kinda has to be willing to see how this goes, right? It's not like he has any other offers. Jeannie said John was looking forward to meeting him. Rodney isn't good at this kind of thing but if that was John's idea of making a move it probably isn't a good idea to wait for another try on John's part. That could be dangerous. But now that he had decided it was best for him to make the next move he was lost again. How the hell do most people manage to initiate relationships without killing themselves? 'Cause he was pretty sure he was well on his way to giving himself a stroke just thinking about it.

He has some serious issues.

"Rodney?" Radek poked his shoulder.

Rodney blinked, bringing the room back into focus.

"You look ill. Are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Just contemplating the way I have gone from a nonexistent love life to something out of a seventh-grader's diary."

"Ah, John is not so good with the talking thing?"

Rodney scowled, "What? No! I mean…what do you know about it?"

Radek waved away the question, "whole camp knows. What do you plan on doing?"

"What?" Rodney squeaked then stumbled on, "The whole camp? I haven't even seen him except for lunch. I didn't even know he, you know, might be inclined to like me, like that, until 20 minutes ago!"

"Is small camp. Gossip travels. Now, what are you planning to do?"

"'Gossip travels'? That's it? You haven't left the building, what are you? Psychic?"

Radek raised an eyebrow at him but didn't offer any other explanation and waited for him.

"Alright, fine. Well, I can't wait for him, 'cause god knows that turned out sooo well last time, but I'm rubbish at this kind of thing. Starting a relationship is such hard work."

"It is my experience that the good ones don't need work to start, they just come together on their own."

"Your experience? You're sixteen. What experience?"

Radek just smiled and shrugged. Rodney narrowed his eyes.

"If it is meant to happen it will, yes?"

"Oh, now that's just stupid."

Radek started walking away, "get back to work, Rodney," he said, but it sounded fond.

~*~

Rodney hadn't gotten much done the rest of the day. He also hadn't yet managed to work out what was happening with John. So, all in all, he was really quite grateful when dinner time rolled around he was able to shoo the campers out of the building and follow them to the cafeteria. Food was good. There was no chance of over-thinking about food, he could just eat.

Unfortunately he ended up squashed next to John again which, considering his inner turmoil, did nothing help him reach any well thought out conclusions about the enigma next to him.

"So where do you wanna take the first team tomorrow?" John was asking Ronon.

"They experienced?"

"Yeah. AT-1."

"Hmm. Recon?"

Rodney was only half listening but at that he had to butt in, "AT-1? What the hell kinda name is that? And what teams?" He kind of remembered something about teams on his list of campers but hadn't paid any attention as it wasn't required knowledge at the moment.

Ronon raised an eyebrow at Rodney, looked pointedly at John, and proceeded have an eating contest. With himself. At least that's what it looked like to Rodney.

"The whole camp gets divided up into teams that they have to work with and will eventually face the other camps with during challenges. The Wraith Boot Camp to the south, Genii Tech Camp to the north, and The Asuran Summer Camp to the west, but they mostly just copy whatever we do and there is a big championship at the end of the summer.

"Experience and skill move you up the ranks. The new campers start on the bottom. On AT-5. Me and Ronon, we take a team out every weekday afternoon. AT stands for Atlantis Team, and the number is their rank. AT-1 is our most experienced team."

"Oh. Who's on AT-1?"

"This year? Lorne, Cadman, Keller, Ford, Halling, and Zelenka."

"Ford? Really? But isn't he, like, 5 years younger than the rest of them?"

John laughed, "yeah. He may not look like it but he knows what he's doing, and it never hurts to have someone small and fearless on your side."

"Huh. And they all work together on challenges?"

"Yup."

Before Rodney could ask any more questions a loud whistle echoed around the crowded cafeteria and silence fell. The graying guy from breakfast was standing at the front of the room, he took his fingers from the corners of his mouth and smiled, waving Elizabeth to the front.

"Thank you. I'd like to say welcome to everyone, and in the case of our returning campers, welcome back. We're a bit on the small side this year but that only means we'll all get to know each other that much better.

You probably remember me from this morning but I'll introduce myself again. My name is Elizabeth and I'm the administrator directly responsible for all of you. This," she gestured toward the man, "is Jack."

"Hiya."

"He is my boss, the general administrator for the whole camp. You'll probably see him around quite often. If you have any problems or concerns that your counselor cannot solve or you do not feel comfortable discussing with them please feel free to come to one of us. Both our offices as well as our living quarters are located just upstairs," Rodney had kind of been wondering where the non-counselors were sleeping, "though I'm sure we are much more likely to be around the camp most times. This brings me to the rest of your counselors. Would you all stand up, please?"

Rodney scrambled to stand up with the rest.

"Would you all mind telling us your names and your post here? Why don't you start Carson?"

"Alright, then. My name's Carson and I am the Healthcare Professional here, in charge of the Infirmary."

They went counter-clockwise from there, "Jeannie. I'm the Arts and Crafts instructor and the Counselor for Cabin 1."

"Sam, Head Counselor and in charge of Cabin 3."

"Ronon, Outdoors Survival, Cabin 5."

"Teyla, I'm the Sports Organizer and Trainer, as well as Counselor for Cabin 2."

"John, Outdoors Survival Lead and Counselor for Cabin 4."

Rodney had been watching the sea of increasingly familiar faces as the others introduced themselves. He noticed all the smiles, the slight waves. Aiden had practically jumped up and down waving at John, no matter that they had just seen each other. He noticed John's pleased smile as he was trying to keep a straight face for his introduction. His campers where the youngest group of boys and Rodney would rather chew off his own hand than have to deal with a bunch of 8-10 year old boys but John seemed to deal quite well with them, aside from the whole Kavanagh thing but Rodney was over holding that against him, and what was that saying about kids and animals? If someone's good with them they can't be that bad. Looks like he really is stuck with this guy for the summer.

John elbowed him lightly in the side and cleared his throat. Rodney realized it was his turn and hurried say his lines, "Um, Rodney, I'm the Science instructor and Counselor for Cabin 6."

Elizabeth smiled understandingly at him, "thank you all, now I will let Jack have a word with you."

The counselors were sitting back down as Jack moved toward the front, switching places with Elizabeth.

He surveyed his audience and smirked, "who wants to play a game?"

The kids erupted into exclamations and applause.

"Ok, then, why don't you lot finish up here and we'll all meet out at the main field in half an hour. I'll explain the rules there."

~*~

The next half hour went by fast as Rodney finished the last of his meal and assisted in rounding up campers. In no time at all everyone was gathered just off the main path watching Jack as he explained the rules to those who were new or needed the reminder.

It sounded like capture the flag to Rodney, only Jack described it being played with more teams and combining a component of hide and seek. Apparently the whole camp was within limits.

"So do you want to play as teams, by cabin, or something else?" Jack asked the group as a whole.

Ford shouted out, "boys against girls!" with a challenging look at Maddie, who raised her eyebrows and smirked in a way Rodney recognized all too well from past years with Jeannie. Part 'I pity your ignorance' and part 'you are so on'. The rest of the camp cheered enthusiastically.

Jack smiled, "Alrighty then, but the numbers are a little off. Do you want any help, girls?"

There was no doubt left in Rodney's mind that they did not as they all booed and yelled.

Jeannie spoke up placating, "now, now, what if we just borrowed a couple of the counselors? Would that be alright?"

The girls nodded their begrudging agreement.

This was apparently a common problem because Carson and John immediately moved over to stand next to Jeannie.

"Ok, now that that's settled, here're your flags, pick a base, and you can start in 5 minutes. Elizabeth and I will be watching so no cheating, understood? Counselors, check your watches, the game ends at 9 regardless. Go!"

Evan, Radek, and Aiden lead the way off in the direction of the woods behind the main building. They were conversing in serious tones, Ronon listening in from just behind them. Rodney trailed near the back of the group looking on worriedly, he didn't do sports very well and he really hoped the trend of those four leading and him getting to stay out of it continued.

They made their base up against the side of the building, Rodney supposed that way they wouldn't have to watch their backs, and everyone crowded around as Evan began to lay out the plan he had worked up with Radek and Aiden's help.

As it turned out Rodney spent most of the game just following Ronon around. Not that that was in any way easy, but it did mean he wasn't on his own so he was mostly happy.  
As happy as one could be while creeping through overgrown forest trying to be stealthy enough not to earn reproachful looks from Sasquatch all for the sake of something that was supposed to be fun.

He quickly learned that the counselors stayed out of the main action for the most part, though he and Ronon did 'capture' John once. And he totally had helped. Causing a distraction by tripping over a root was absolutely, completely, part of the plan.

It didn't take the girls long to mount a counterattack to free John and the other two captured girls. Amelia and Jennifer had been brought in by a group consisting of Evan, Aiden, Halling, Markham and Stackhouse. They had set up an elaborate trap to capture the girls, in the hopes of dwindling their numbers, though they only managed to capture the two. A good amount of boys were hanging around the base, Ronon and Rodney among them because they had just brought in John, when there was something that looked suspiciously like a small explosion just a little ways off into the woods.

Several of the newer boys cautiously ventured away to get a closer look but as Rodney was moving to do the same Ronon grabbed the back of his shirt.

"It's a trap. Cadman."

Rodney tried to remember who that was. He turned to Ronon with wide eyes, "_Laura_, she, what, was that really a _bomb_?!"

Ronon shrugged but glared at the trees looking for signs of activity. Right. Distraction. They were probably expecting everyone to go running toward the big bang.

Ronon had them all in an outward facing semi-circle, only one of them keeping a close watch on the 'prisoners', on the lookout for movement. Every now and then Rodney would spot a face or a limb but they all stayed well away and never attempted to near the base any more than they already were.

About the time Rodney was starting to wonder whether an attack was ever really going to happen Evan trampled out from the foliage and asked sharply, "Hey, what happened to the prisoners?"

They spent a good five minutes trying to figure out how the 'prisoners' had escaped right under their noses and disappeared along with their guard before someone looked up and noticed the paper with big sharpie letters taped to the window on the second floor above their heads.

It said 'that was too easy, boys.'

So that was how they had lost five of their number and their captives without even seeing their attackers. At least they didn't get the boy's flag. Rodney really wished they had, at least this would be over with.

The counter-counterattack gained the boys back some of their people and earned themselves a few new captives but was, all things considered, a big disappointment.

The sun was getting particularly low in the horizon when he lost Ronon. He didn't know how but the guy seemed to have the ability to vanish into thin air. That was the only explanation; Rodney was most definitely paying attention this time. Rodney was making his way back to the relative safety of the base when he heard John yell, "Now!" And Maddie dropped from the trees onto him while four other giggling girls swarmed him.

When Rodney could see past all the hair flying in front of his eyes he looked up from his position on his back to see John's smiling face framed by the pinkish sky.

"Alrighty, let's get him back to the base, eh?"

He sputtered indignantly at John while eager little hands reached out to help him to his feet then steer him through the forest.

"Was that really necessary? I'm covered with dirt and, Yuck! Oh, god there was a caterpillar in my hair! I'm gonna get some strange bug-borne disease and die a slow horrible death and it will be all your fault." He flicked the bug at John.

John flapped his hands frantically and jumped out of the way, "don't _do_ that! God." He shivered.

Rodney laughed, "you're afraid of bugs? You practically live outside."

John glared, "I had a bad experience."

Rodney snorted, "I'm sure. What happened?"

"I had. A bad. Experience."

But they were back at the base and Rodney let John off with just rolling his eyes as the girls pushed him toward the group of boys who were being held 'captive'.

John gave him a big smile and a wave as he trotted off after the group of girls again.

Rodney glanced around, there were about twelve other boys in 'jail'. He grumbled to Carson, who was sitting with some of the girls watching their captives, as he sat with them, "great, this is what my life has come to, playing prisoner in a game of Capture the Flag that is being taken _way_ to seriously."

~*~

He was still in 'jail' when they heard Jack's whistle blow in the distance. Rodney looked at his watch, "thank god. Nine o'clock everyone, game's over, lets go."

Everyone made their way slowly back to the field, despite the startling ferocity of the game everyone was instantly laughing and joking with each other again. Rodney stomped over to where Jeannie, Carson, and John were standing.

"Whoever decided that children should play outdoors needs to be shot. I think I'm getting a rash from the grass, for god's sake. And you, don't look at me like that," he scowled at John's smirk.

"You had fun."

"Fun? Of all the possible things in all the world that could be considered fun I can assure you this evening was nowhere near being on the list."

Jack was dismissing the campers, telling them that lights out was in an hour and that they had all better be tucked in or else. Nobody bothered to ask "or else what?" The sandy-haired guy from breakfast was waiting at the edge of the field and wandered over to Jack as he shooed the kids back to their cabins.

"John, why don't you show Rodney the lake, Carson and I will make sure the kids behave."

"That's not nec…"

"Yeah, sounds great, Rodney?"

Stupid meddling sisters and their stupid overly helpful not-quite-boyfriends. Not that Rodney was opposed to spending time with John he just really wanted to not be outside anymore playing buffet to a ravenous horde of mosquitoes. He voiced his opinion on the latter.

"I can take care of that," John said, and _of course_ he could. They waved good-bye to Jeannie and Carson and Rodney followed John back toward the main building. They turned down the path to the activities cabins.

"Ah, where're we going?"

"Just getting some supplies. Here."

John opened the door to the Outdoors Survival Cabin and picked through a few piles of stuff in the dark.

"Here, spray this on."

Rodney took the can of bug spray and stepped outside to dowse himself. When he came back he was already complaining vocally about the smell. John just smirked some more and tucked a blanket under his arm.

"Come on."

Rodney continued to follow John as he lead the way down a small path, taking a short cut rather than go all the way back through camp. Then he suddenly stood aside and Rodney looked up to see a crystal clear little lake surrounded by trees and reflecting the sky as it shifted quickly from deep purple to a star studded blue-black.

"Wow," he breathed.

"Yeah, it's really something, huh," John replied, just as quietly.

They made their way to a tiny beach just barely big enough for John to lay out the blanket and for them to sit back on it, side by side.

"So, ah, how'd you end up here?"

John raised an eyebrow.

"At Atlantis, I mean. It's not like they offer this job to just anyone, right, so what makes you so special. Not that, well, you know…" he trailed off pleadingly.

John chuckled, "yeah, I know. I don't really know how I ended up here. I was always on the move, did just about everything, and then one spring I was working as a tour guide for a whitewater rafting company and someone there knew Elizabeth and one thing lead to another and suddenly I had a job offer."

"Always on the move?"

"Yeah. It's just easier not to stay in one place to long, you know?"

He didn't but, "sure, so why did you come back, then?"

John bit his lip and shrugged, "I guess it's the closest I have to a home."

"Oh," was about all Rodney could think of in response to that, "but, ah, what about your parents? I mean, if you don't want to talk about it, and I understand not liking your parents, really, but at least I have Jeannie. I mean family's something, right?"

John grimaced, "not when they've disowned you."

"What? They disowned you? What did you do? Oh my god, you're not one of those child psychopaths, are you? Where they send you away to some mental institution but can't keep you after you turn eighteen."

John laughed, "relax Rodney, I'm not about to murder you or anything."

"Oh, yes, well. Then what…?"

There was a long silence where Rodney feared he may have asked too much but John heaved a huge sigh and nodded, "Ok, yeah," he said to himself.

His face was blank and he didn't look at Rodney when he spoke, "I guess it all started with Nancy. I think we were going out for, like, three years at the time. It was one of those things where you're in the same crowd and people just seem to think you belong together so you go along with it, you know?"

Rodney nodded.

"Well, we hadn't really done anything, I mean, her dad was strict and kinda religious and she was just one of those girls who just doesn't consider sex as anything you do if you don't have to, you know. She was kinda uptight, I guess. But anyway, there was also this boy who lived next door. He was a few years older than me and one day he came by and one thing lead to another and, ah, she walked in on me trying to give my first blow job."

Rodney sucked in a breath, "wow."

"Yeah, that didn't go over too well."

"How old were you?"

"Almost sixteen."

"wow."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, she made a big fuss and everyone found out. Her dad petitioned the school to have me thrown out. It was one of those fancy private ones, you know, and he had a lot of power there so they just went along with what he wanted. And my dad tried to kick me out. I actually think he was more disappointed in me for ruining the family reputation than with my turning out gay. My mom made him let me stay, though. But after the school kicked me out I got my GED right away, I could have graduated so much earlier if my dad had let me, anyway."

"You only have a GED? No offence, but I thought they only hired really smart people here."

"You didn't let me finish. I couldn't stand it there anymore so I moved out, went to school. It took longer than it should have to get my degree 'cause I moved three times, but by the time I was eighteen I had a degree in Applied Mathematics from MIT. Then I enlisted in the Air Force. I had always wanted to fly and I think I thought that maybe my dad would be proud if I did this. Just before I had to leave for basic my mom died, breast cancer, so I went home for the funeral. Big mistake. That's when my dad decided I was too much trouble and disowned me. Maybe it was the whole living back in the closet thing or maybe I just couldn't handle the military after that, but the Air Force didn't last long. Less than a year later and I was gone. I haven't been in one place for more than a few months since then, it's been almost five years since I had a 'home'. Not until Atlantis, that is."

"Huh."

"Yeah."

"What do you do during the rest of the year?"

"Well, me and Ronon hop from one job to another. Mostly tour guides. Anything outdoors, really. I still keep a pilot's license so we get to do some really cool things. We've even visited Teyla a few times. Her family owns a big studio, Athos, where they teach yoga and martial arts type things. They're great. Let us stay whenever we want to."

"Ronon?"

"He's someone to have around, you know? And we do well together."

"Huh. Did you two ever…" Rodney waved a hand.

"What? God, no. Not that he's not good looking, but he's _so_ not my type. And besides, he's totally straight."

"Oh."

"What about you."

"I'm not straight."

John laughed.

"What?"

He struggled for breath, "no, sorry, not, that's not what I meant."

"Oh."

"How'd you end up here?"

"I think you know most of that, right."

"Sure, I guess, but why'd you come?"

Rodney shrugged, "I guess I just wanted to try something different. Not be the same looser geek shut-in for the rest of my life. I don't usually take chances with people but Jeannie has always been able to make me do things I wouldn't normally do. Don't ever tell her I said this but she's usually right about this kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, advancing the field of physics as we know it is fascinating, but, well…"

"Yeah."

"I guess I was hoping to find something here. God, that sounds so stupid."

"No. I'm glad you came."

Rodney looked at John, this wanderer who had found a home here. He wanted that so badly. Not just the feeling of rightness while he was holed up in a lab somewhere, a home. With family. John had found that here, maybe he could too. Maybe Jeannie was right and John was meant to be a part of it. He could totally do this. Like Radek said, just let it happen, right?

Rodney leaned closer, John's eyes opened in surprise but he inched forward.

"I think I am, too," Rodney whispered over John's lips before closing the distance.

**A/N**: This was written for the experience of setting up a 'verse and as an 'End of the Summer' challenge on LJ, it has purposely been left wide open so that anyone can write one-shots for the summer. I will most likely have some myself. Please feel free to join in.


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